Chapter 2: Arts of persuasion

The Great Hall bustled with happily distracting sounds. Normal sounds. Petitions were over and the council meeting that normally followed them was in full swing. Since Aradunnon avoided those meetings as often as possible and Dieneryn sometimes abandoned them to help Lindomiel with household duties, it was possible to ignore their absence as the voices of Legolas's father and uncles argued over trade or supplies or what ever else had them occupied this morning. In fact the discussion as a whole was especially easy to ignore since Legolas, Galithil and Berior were engaged in their own quiet debate as they copied letters and court records at the scribe's table to the far side of the Hall.

"I tried asking him again, Berior," Legolas whispered, glancing at the head of the table to make sure Isteth had not noticed they were talking. She still did not trust them not to make mistakes if they talked while doing their copying. To be fair, she did not trust the adult scribes to talk and copy either. But her insistence on complete silence was the only part of the copying duties that Legolas and his cousins really found annoying.

"Did you try telling him all that about feeling safer if you could have a little training? That sounds like something that might work," Berior whispered back.

Galithil shook his head and rolled his eyes.

Ignoring him, Legolas nodded. "I told him that, but he said that since we were not ever going anyplace dangerous again, I did not need to worry about feeling safe."

"Did you remind him about the spiders? Those were not so far from the stronghold. We could always run into danger, even if we do not go to places that are known to be dangerous. A little training with a sword, or at least training with a bow beyond what is needed for hunting, would be a good idea," Berior countered.

"I started to say that," Legolas replied. "But Nana said that Adar did not want to hear such things right now and that I would be smarter not to mention them if I did not want to be restricted to the Green."

Berior winced dramatically in response to that threat. They all knew how lucky they had been to avoid that fate more than once recently.

"And then Adar said he was working on an idea that would keep all of us perfectly safe all the time," Legolas continued. Both Berior and Galithil stopped writing and looked over at Legolas with nervous expressions on their faces. Legolas nodded. "I know. That does not bode well at all."

"I thought you said your adar was not going to punish you. That he said you had both suffered enough," Berior whispered out of the side of his mouth while focusing on the paper in front of him and returning to his writing. Isteth had looked over at them when the scritching of their quills had stopped.

"Adar's idea of punishment and our idea of punishment often differ," Legolas replied softly. "But the end result is: Adar would not even agree to listen to my arguments to begin weapons training. He would not hear anything about it. Nana agreed to help me try to talk to him about it, but she said we would have to wait until Adar had forgotten about us going south and me being wounded."

Berior tried to stifle an incredulous laugh and ended up snorting loudly. "In other words, he will never listen to you."

"Probably not," Legolas agreed, as Isteth stood and walked behind them, circling the table and peering closely at their work.

She continued hovering behind them until the council meeting ended. Wooden chairs scraped against the stone floor as Legolas's uncles stood, gathered their materials and chatted before slowly going their own ways. Finally, Isteth went back to the head of the table, followed by Berior's loud sigh, to supervise her daughter's work. Eirienil was not copying that morning. Instead, she sat at the head of the scribe's table with a stack of book signatures in her lap and a threaded needle in her hand. For a long time now Eirienil had been responsible for combining pages into signatures, but this was the first time her mother had allowed her to bind the signatures into a book. She had spent the morning painstakingly making precisely placed holes in the signatures. Now she was beginning to sew them. Legolas and Galithil paused in their copying to watch.

"That looks really hard," Legolas whispered.

Galithil nodded, still watching Eirienil. "So much so that I do not feel even slightly inclined to tease her."

"Wise decision," Legolas replied. "I think she would stab you with that needle. It looks long. And sharp."

"That is certain," Eirienil chimed without deigning to glance at either of them.

Galithil laughed and returned his attention to the paper in front of him. He had written a few more lines on it when Thranduil's voice cut over the chatter in the room.

"A moment please, Dolgailon, before you leave. I would like a word with you about who will succeed your adar as Troop Commander."

Legolas instantly tensed and turned away from watching Eirienil to study Galithil. Galithil bent closer over his copying work, his posture far stiffer than it had been a moment ago. Legolas sighed. This was one occasion when he would not have minded being asked to leave the room. It would certainly be better for Galithil to be excluded from this conversation. But it had been years since he and his cousins had been asked to leave the Hall--years since Thranduil had appeared to censor the topics the council discussed while the children were in the Hall. Still, this was not something Galithil needed to hear.

Engwe apparently did not appreciate this topic of conversation either, given that he spun on his heel to stalk away the moment the term 'troop commander' had fallen from Thranduil's lips. Legolas raised his eyebrows at that reaction and he saw Dolgailon do the same. They both followed their uncle Engwe with their eyes until he slammed the doors of the Great Hall behind him. Dolgailon looked very much as if he badly wanted to follow Engwe's example. Instead, he squared his shoulders and reseated himself at the council table next to Thranduil, while saying quietly that he was certain Engwe would make a fine Troop Commander and he would certainly support him anyway he could.

Legolas returned his attention to his copying, writing as quickly as he could. He only had one more copy to do after the one that he was working on. A quick glance to Galithil and Berior's stacks showed they were nearly done as well. Galithil was speeding through his work so fast that Legolas feared it would be sloppy enough to prompt Eirienil's mother to demand that he redo it. Silently, Legolas reached over to Galithil's stack and took his remaining copy. "You can carry what we have done to Hallion's office when you are done," he said when Galithil paused to look at him.

Galithil smiled appreciatively. In the background, Thranduil was saying something about Engwe being a fine logistician. Legolas finished the letter he was copying and laid it on the stack in front of him, placing a blotter on top of it. When he looked up, he noticed Berior had stopped copying and was listening intently to Thranduil. His eyes were bright with amusement. Legolas scowled and nudged his cousin hard with his foot. His father's conversation with Dolgailon was very serious and sad, not funny.  As Legolas turned the letter he had taken from Galithil around so he could read it, he heard his father saying something about the importance of tactical skills. Then he heard him say bluntly that Engwe was sorely lacking in these skills. Legolas's eyebrows shot up and, like Berior, he focused on his father's voice, barely restraining himself from turning around to look at him.

"I am done," Galithil said, interrupting Legolas's concentration. He wiped his quill on the blotter, capped his ink, and reached to take Legolas and Berior's stacks of papers. He placed them on top of his own and straightened them while rising from his chair. "I will meet you in the library for lessons," he said.

"Me?" Dolgailon exclaimed from the other side of the room, his voice several octaves higher than normal.

He spoke so loudly that Galithil fumbled the papers in his hands and they fluttered back down onto the table. Eirienil let out a sharp squeal. Dolgailon's outburst had caused her to jump and stab herself with the needle. She stuck her finger in her mouth and turned to glare at her older cousin.

Legolas turned to look at him as well. Doilgailon was gaping at Thranduil incredulously.

"My lord, I do not have adequate experience for such a position," he protested. "I have less than one tenth the years of experience that captains like Morillion and Ostarndor have."

Galithil looked at his older brother for a moment with obvious sympathy. Then he leaned over the table and hurriedly tried to gather up the papers that he had dropped. Legolas reached to help him.

"How could I possibly command their respect, given my comparative inexperience?" Dolgailon continued.

"Your experience in the patrols is perfectly adequate, Dolgailon," Thranduil responded. "You have captained all of them, except the capital's guard. And I was very impressed with the example of your command that I just saw during the battle in the southern villages. Moreover, you have experience working with my council, something none of the other captains have done, regardless of their years."

"Save that one battle, it has been over 30 years since I have served in the patrols, my lord," Dolgailon countered. "I do not know anything about current state of the defense of this realm. How can I possibly...."

"Then you can spend a few days reading the most recent communications that your adar had with the patrols and catch up in that manner," Thranduil replied, cutting him off. He sounded openly annoyed, and that caused Legolas and Galithil both to look at him. He very rarely allowed his temper to show in council meetings and never had spoken thusly to Dolgailon, as far as any of the children knew. "If you feel you must, you can spend some time visiting the patrols, though I prefer for you to limit your absence from the capital as much as possible, for Galithil's sake."

Galithil turned away again and shuffled the stack of papers he was trying to straighten more forcefully than necessary in response to that.

Dolgailon, apparently undaunted by the King's temper, was laughing bitterly. "Have you ever seen my adar's office? No one could find anything in it except for him. I will never find those reports to read them. But Engwe is already familiar with the current state of defense, he also has experience working with your council and he is much older and more experienced than I am."

Galithil stopped shuffling the papers and looked at the desk.

"But I am not appointing Engwe to be Troop Commander. I am giving you that appointment. It will be your job to find some way to bring yourself up to date," Thranduil replied. His tone indicated the discussion was over.

Unfortunately, Dolgailon's posture seemed to imply that he was not done protesting.

"I can help you find things in adar's office," Galithil offered, before Dolgailon could continue. Legolas turned to stare at him. "I copied for him. I know where he put everything." He spoke quietly, as if he had been speaking to Legolas, Berior and Eirienil, and he still looked at the table. But his voice carried. "Adar would have agreed that you would be the better Troop Commander, Dolgailon," he added.

Legolas exchanged a look with Eirienil and then both children appeared to study the work in front of them. Legolas did not want Galithil to see the shock and pity that must certainly be plainly written on his face. Galithil had loved spending time with his father in his office. When he copied orders for Aradunnon, it was extra copying that he did willingly because it was 'his' time with his adar. Since their return to the stronghold, Galithil had avoided even walking down the corridor that led to the Troop Commander's office. And that had required them to take a long, circumlocutious route to their lessons. But they all had been more than willing to take it, to spare Galithil. Now he was volunteering to help Dolgailon find things in that office?

Thranduil smiled at Galithil and gestured for him to join them at the table. Dolgailon, looked up at the ceiling and shook his head.

"Tell Master Rodonon why I am late," Galithil whispered to Legolas before he trotted over to the council table.

"This is settled," Thranduil said, in the voice everyone knew meant he did not intend to argue further.

Legolas watched as Dolgailon offered Thranduil a 'I will do my best, my lord" along with a bow before he led Galithil from the room with a hand on his shoulder, pausing halfway between the table and the door to whisper something in Galithil's ear that made Galithil scowl. When they disappeared through the doors of the Hall, Legolas turned back to face Berior and Eirienil.

"Dolgailon was being silly," Berior said, as he picked up his quill again. "He is the most responsible person in this family. Everyone knows that and respects him for it. He will make an excellent Troop Commander."

"He certainly has a personality that people can respect more than they respect Engwe's," Eirienil added in a whisper. "But Dolgailon is right that he will need records to bring himself up-to-date and uncle Aradunnon's office is a mess. Galithil may know where the most recent reports are, but nana and Rodonon always said the Troop Commander's records should be better ordered."

Berior snorted. "Maybe you should ask your naneth if you can help Dolgailon and Galithil order those records then?"

Eirienil made a face at him. Then, she turned to her mother. "May I help Dolgailon and Galithil, naneth?"

"It will be a very large job, so you must consult Rodonon and I, but you may help if the King allows it. I will go ask him," she replied.

Berior rolled his eyes as Isteth stood and walked to the council table.

"Only you would have taken that suggestion seriously, Eirienil," he said, watching Isteth. Then his eyes widened. "Woah! Look at the stack of papers uncle Hallion has for uncle Thranduil! More papers than there are trees in the forest," he exclaimed.

Legolas looked over his shoulder to see Hallion arranging several tall stacks of papers around the King as he spoke to Isteth.

"Dolgailon has nothing to complain about compared to uncle Thranduil. What a huge amount of work! Dolgailon better be glad uncle Thranduil survived that battle. Better to inherit the position of Troop Commander than King from the looks of it," he said, laughing at his little joke.

Legolas tensed, first at the suggestion that his father might have been killed, and then at Berior's last words.

"Actually, I think it is Legolas that needs to be thankful for that," Eirienil said quietly, while looking steadily at Legolas.

Legolas could feel her gaze but found himself unable to return it.

"True!" Berior said, giving Legolas a playful kick under the table. His laughter faded when he saw Legolas's expression.

*~*~*

Thranduil hurried around the corner and strode down the corridor towards the open library door, rushing to quickly retrieve the papers he needed to finish his morning work. Bright light and children's voices spilled out the door. Galithil was summarizing the history of the Silmaril in Menegroth. Thranduil scowled. He very much meant what he said to the children yesterday that those were memories he did not care to relive. Thranduil entered the library, nodded to Master Rodonon and the children, and stepped amongst the stacks of books and papers to track down the materials he needed to reference. As he scanned the shelves, he wished for the hundredth time that he and Hallion could quickly catch up with the backlog of work that had accumulated when Thranduil was away from the capital. Given the piles of reports and petitions and correspondence that they had read through over the last few days, it would seem they should be close to being caught up. Unfortunately, he knew they were not. What they really needed was someone who could be trusted to help Hallion summarize the paperwork and do the required research. Dieneryn often helped with those tasks in the past. And so did Engwe. But Thranduil knew it would be a long while before his mother was working again and he did not begrudge her the time she needed to recover. Engwe had been preoccupied managing Aradunnon's duties. So Hallion was hopelessly behind and Thranduil was left to help them catch up by finding his own research materials.

"Nicely done, Galithil," Rodonon said, his voice muffled as Thranduil wandered down the next row of shelving. "Now tell me how you would have advised Lord Thingol so as to avoid the disasters caused by the dwarves and the Noldor."

Thranduil raised his eyebrows at that. It was quite a request. If only there had been something that might have been done, he thought as he pulled a likely book from a shelf far above his head and flipped it open to inspect it.

"We originally thought the most obvious mistake the King made was to trust the dwarves to work inside Menegroth and to go alone into their smithies," Galithil began. "But when we researched it, we realized the dwarves had smithies inside Menegroth for the entire Age without causing trouble and most of the weapons the warriors of Doriath used were made in those smithies. And Hallion told us the King had gone several times to appraise the dwarves' progress with the Nauglamir without seeing any signs of danger. So apparently there was no reason for the King to have thought the dwarves might be a threat. And we also learned from Hallion that Thingol did not go about inside Menegroth with guards. He only had guards with him in battle or outside the protection of Doriath or in ceremonial duties, such as when he was holding court. So, it is probably not fair to think he acted wrongly by going alone to their smithies."

"Well done," Rodonon interjected, as Thranduil moved further along the stacks. "Legolas, continue."

"Well, once we decided he could not have reasonably predicted that going alone to the smithies was dangerous, we were at a bit of a loss as to what his advisors or warriors might have done to prevent his death at the hands of the dwarves. So we decided to work on the Noldor's attack on Menegroth for a while. We studied how Dior distributed the available warriors to protect Menegroth and Doriath, and it seemed to be a logical arrangement, though we do not know enough about tactics to say for certain. So we did not see how he might have reordered them to better prevent the attack on Menegroth. But what could have prevented that attack for certain was to simply give the Silmaril to the sons of Feanor when they demanded it. When we realized that, it occurred to us that if Thingol had given the jewel to Maedhros when he demanded it from him, rather than keeping it and having it set in the Nauglamir, he would not have aroused the dwarves' greed and therefore he would not have been killed. So we deem the best advice his advisors could have given him would have been to surrender the Silmaril."

"And what arguments would you have used, as his advisors, to persuade..." Rodonon began to ask, but he was cut off.

Thranduil poked his head out from around the shelves, brows furrowed in response to his son's statements. "Beren suffered the pits of Sauron--he lost his hand and his life--to recover the Silmaril," he interrupted. "Thingol's daughter, Dior's mother, faced both Sauron and Morgoth himself to take it. And you would have Thingol or Dior surrender it uncontested to the sons of Feanor?"

Rodonon crossed his arms across his chest. But he said nothing. Instead he only turned back to Legolas and Galithil, one brow raised and looking at them expectantly. With effort, Thranduil remembered this was a lesson, an exercise. It was not the Great Hall. He strove to soften his features, not doubting that he looked cross. He knew his tone had been openly angry. So, he was somewhat surprised to see Legolas and Galithil only sit a little straighter, perhaps more stiffly, in their chairs.

"It was only a jewel, uncle," Galithil said. "No jewel is worth the destruction of an entire realm, even if it was bought by the death of two people, no matter who those people are. Could you honestly look the captains of this realm in the eye and order them to give their lives to protect a jewel?"

Thranduil found himself unable to answer that question.

"And neither Thingol nor Dior had any true claim to it," Legolas added. "Beren and Luthien surely suffered a great deal to get it, but there was no need for them to have done so. Thingol had no right to name it as the price he set for Luthien. The sons of Feanor stated clearly that they alone claimed the Silmarils that Morgoth stole from their father..."

"The sons of Feanor were evil. When they began killing anyone that stood in their path to get those jewels, they earned the curse of the Valar and forfeited any right..."

"All the more reason not to involve oneself with the Silmarils," Legolas countered, showing no sign of backing down. "Thingol named that Silmaril as his price intending for Beren to die since he had given his word to his daughter not to slay Beren outright. That was a wicked trap designed to accomplish his ends while still feigning to preserve his honor. According to the records we read, Melian advised him against it because it was wicked and because it was dangerous to entwine oneself in the fate of the Silmarils. She was right."

Thranduil opened his mouth to argue, but Rodonon cut him off. "You were required to find some legal precedent to back up your arguments. Did you find one to back this argument?"

Legolas nodded. "When the sons of Feanor returned from Valinor, they claimed lands belonging to Thingol, saying they had fairly won them from the servants of Morgoth in battle. Thingol ordered them out of his lands, judging that they had no right to take what had been stolen from him by Morgoth, no matter that they had been the ones to drive the orcs out. By that same argument, Thingol had no right to keep the Silmaril that Morgoth stole from Feanor, no matter how Beren and Luthien suffered to retrieve it. He cannot use an argument when it serves him and ignore it when it does not. That is not just."

"Well argued, Legolas," Rodonon said quietly.

"Indeed," Thranduil conceded quietly, leaning back against the shelf and studying Legolas and Galithil.

"How would your argument change," Rodonon asked, regaining control of his lesson, "if Thingol had needed that jewel, not to decorate his person set in the Nauglamir, but rather to sell for desperately needed armaments or foodstuffs for his people?"

"He still has no right to sell what is not his," Galithil replied promptly. "But he did have the right to demand that the sons of Feanor recompense Beren and Luthien for their valor in retrieving it."

"And if they refused, but still demanded the jewel?" Rodonon asked.

"Better to give it to them than try to sell it," Galithil said. "Who would buy a jewel known to be claimed by someone else? Only a thief, who would be just as likely to cheat you as treat you fairly."

"Not to mention the damage Thingol or Dior would do to their realm's reputation if they behaved in such a manner," Legolas added. "How could they expect other realms, Mannish, Dwarvish or Elvish, to treat with them or aid them if they were known to deal so dishonestly? More likely that another realm would send Thingol aid willingly once they heard how poorly Doriath was rewarded by the sons of Feanor, than if they heard that Doriath had tried to rob the sons of Feanor in light of their lack of generosity."

"Again, well argued. Both of you," Rodonon said. "We will leave this lesson here and that is all for today. For our next rhetoric lesson, I would like you to begin thinking about a similar topic: Olwe's refusal to give Feanor the Teleri's ships.  I would like you to review the reasons we know that Olwe gave for his refusal and be prepared to begin discussing whether you think they were valid, given the outcome. Think about how the reasons for Thingol's refusal and Olwe's refusal differed and if that difference better justifies Olwe's decision and the outcome of his decision in your minds. Understood?"

Legolas and Galithil both nodded. "Yes, Master Rodonon."

"You may go, then," Rodonon said.

Thranduil could not hide a smile when Legolas and Galithil leapt from their seats. They were just turning to rush for the library door when Thranduil made a decision. "Just a moment, both of you," he said, preempting their escape. When they turned, with obvious reluctance, to face him, he gestured to the chairs they had just vacated and moved to take one across from them at the table. "If Master Rodonon does not mind, I would like to take this opportunity to discuss with you what I have decided you will be doing for me as a consequence of your journey to the southern realm." He watched them slowly reseat themselves, while exchanging a nervous glance. "Not to worry. I think you might enjoy this. And after hearing this lesson, it is clear that I will profit from it."

*~*~*

"There they are!" and "Finally!" assaulted Legolas and Galithil as they hopped off the bridge that crossed the river from the stronghold. Their cousins, along with Brethil, Aewen and Maidhien, rushed forward to greet them from where they had been been playing a game along the tree line. Anastor and Noruil lingered under the shade of the trees. Legolas could not really fault them. It was hot! But he grinned widely at his cousins and friends as they surrounded him, hoping their excitement could draw out Galithil a bit. Legolas was really surprised that he had not been able to elicit anything beyond grunted "mmm's" and "uh-huh's" from his cousin in response to his attempts to discuss the amazing duty his father had just given them. But then, Galithil had always seen such activities as punishments until they had done them for a while and he could appreciate all the interesting secrets they would see and learn.

"Your lessons took forever today!" Maidhien complained.

"Did you do poorly on your maths examination?" Berior asked, teasingly.

Everyone stared at Galithil when he fiddled with the closures on his tunic and said nothing.

"No, we did fine on the maths exam," Legolas responded. "But we had a rhetoric exam as well and then Adar wanted to speak to us."

"About what?" Aewen asked, looking at Galithil now with pity and understanding. "Your punishment for going south?"

"I thought you said he did not plan on punishing you," Eirienil said, also looking warily at Galithil, who refused to meet their gazes.

Anastor and Noruil sidled forward from the trees with bright expressions.

Legolas shook his head. "Not really a punishment. Just a new duty. Adar wants us to help Hallion read and summarize the petitions the court receives."

"Really!" Eirienil exclaimed with obvious jealousy.

Legolas tried not to grin too broadly. "Yes," he replied quietly, before delivering the news that he knew would send Eirienil into fits of envy. "And we will be helping Hallion research whatever Adar will need to judge the petitions and write the recommendations that Hallion provides with the summaries."

Eirienil's jaw fell open and she stared at him. Legolas could not stifle soft laugh.

"But Uncle Hallion does those summaries at night when everyone else is on the Green," Berior interjected. "If you do that with him, that means you will not be able dance under the stars with us."

Legolas shrugged. "Adar said at first, when we are learning what needs to be done, we will have to work with Hallion at night and that does mean we will be late coming to the Green after dinner, if we get to go at all. And he said since this is a consequence of going south, he thought that was fair. But after we learn how to do it, he will have Hallion pick the work he wants us to do and we can do it whenever we chose, provided we get it to Hallion in time for him to check it before the petitions involved must be judged. So we will not be working at nights forever."

Eirienil folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. "You will see some interesting information doing that," she said. "I would love to be able to do it with you."

Legolas nodded his agreement, not bothering to hide his excitement. "Persuade Master Rodonon to tell Adar that you are as good at your rhetoric lessons as we are--because you certainly are--and maybe he will let you. I think Adar decided this would be our new duty after hearing our exam today."

Eirienil raised her eyebrows and looked at him thoughtfully in response to that.

"What is rhetoric?" Noruil asked quietly from where he was standing with Anastor a few paces behind Legolas.

Legolas turned to face him and saw Anastor make an exasperated face.

"Speaking or writing to persuade people. Debate," Legolas responded.

"The reason why Legolas and Galithil are such smart mouths," Anastor added, stepping between Noruil and Legolas. "You are far too interested in stupid tasks. What are we going to do today?" he continued. "For fun. Before we have to go home and help Adar fix his stupid traps."

"That is their punishment for going south," Maidhien whispered. "They have to help Adar every evening after dinner for the rest of the summer. The whole summer! No dancing on the Green for them either," she said with glee.

"Shut up, Maidhien," Anastor snapped at her.

Maidhien made a face at him. "You should just be glad you are not locked up in one of lord Thranduil's cells," she shot back at him.

"Shut up, Maidhien," Anastor repeated with even more vehemence.

"She is right," Noruil said with a nervous laugh. "Adar told me he might ask Thranduil to borrow one of his cells to keep us safely locked up until we learned some sense. He said he had asked Thranduil for one before and Thranduil said he sympathized with the request."

Legolas started to laugh at that, debating with himself whether he should tease Anastor and Noruil by agreeing his father might allow it, or whether they might use that to argue his father was cruel, thereby taking all the fun out of the jab.

"It would be no more than we deserved," Galithil said, interrupting Legolas's thoughts.

Legolas's gaze darted to his cousin and he blinked when he saw Galithil was completely serious. "Galithil," he began, reprovingly. But Anastor cut him off.

"Now you can shut up, Galithil," he scoffed.

"People died because of what we did, Anastor," Galithl replied, turning on him. "And more people were gravely injured. Do you think that requires no payment?"

"What are we going to do for fun?" Maidhien asked, interposing herself between Galithil and Anastor. She faced Galithil, taking each of his hands in one of hers. "We could go ask if we can shoot at the targets on the archery range..."

"Adar told you to stay away from my sister, Galithil," Anastor interrupted, reaching to pull Maidhien's hands from Galithil's grasp.

Maidhien practically growled at him for ruining her attempt to distract them all from an argument.

But Berior was beside her in an instant, also stepping between Anastor and Galithil. "Better than that. We should try to figure out how to shoot from the trees," he said, cutting off Maidhien's response to her brother.

Legolas appreciated the effort to avert a fight between them, but he doubted Galithil wanted to practice archery. And besides, his bow and Galithil's were currently in his adar's room, completing the punishment they had earned when they went so far west along the Path that they ran into spiders. "I am not allow to yet," he answered quickly, patting his side where he had been wounded.

Berior frowned.

"We could go ask for a horse and take turns riding it," Aewen suggested quickly, doing her part to prevent Galithil and Anastor's confrontation from exploding. "If we stay on the Green, we do not need anyone's permission."

"Except permission to take the horse from whoever is in charge of the barn," Maidhien said. "And remember, it will not be Tulus, since he is still recovering. So they might not let us have a horse."

"Who ever it is, they will let Legolas have one, if he asks," Aewen answered.

Maidhien looked ready to concede that point, and Legolas was drawing a breath to say he was not so sure he could secure a horse after he took one to go south. But Anastor interrupted them both.

"I have an idea," he said, stepping around Aewen and Maidhien to stand right in front of Legolas. He looked at Noruil and gestured to the tree line. Noruil grinned, nodded and scurried off towards the trees.

Legolas could not help but follow him with his eyes.

"We could practice sword work," Anastor said as Noruil pulled two wooden practice swords from the ferns at the base of one of the trees. He held them up long enough for Legolas to get a good look at them and then he hid them again.

"Where did you get those?" Berior asked, taking a few steps towards Noruil.

Anastor caught him by the arm and spoke to Legolas without looking at Berior. "We could go spy on the warriors in the training fields and then use those to practice what we see them doing. Noruil and I do it all the time. The swords class on the field at this time of day is the Second Year class, but we can show you enough of what they teach in the First Year class that we could still practice the Second Year's moves. We have been watching the sword classes for years now."

Legolas felt his blood rising a bit in response to Anastor's condescending tone.

"We should do it, Legolas," Berior said, still eyeing Noruil with excitement.

Legolas said nothing, surprised at how tempted he was to do something he would have never considered risking before. He and his cousins were absolutely forbidden to go near the training fields because they had no business there and because they might easily be injured by stray arrows. Everyone in the capital minded a safe perimeter around the training fields.

"Do not even think about it, Legolas," Aewen intervened. "You have been shot by one arrow. Surely that is enough for you!"

Legolas scowled at her in response to that blunt reminder.

"We do it almost every day and we have never been shot," Noruil argued back. "We have a good place to watch."

"Do not be a fool Legolas," Aewen said when Legolas still appeared to be considering it. "What do you think your adar would say if he caught you playing with swords..."

"We play with swords all the time," Brethil interrupted. "Pretend ones. Sticks we use as swords. The King has seen us do it a hundred times. He has even joined us in our little battle a few times. I will go if you will."

"Playing with swords," Eirienil repeated, taking up her friend's argument and raising her voice to speak over Brethil, "that were obviously stolen from the training program."

That got Legolas's attention. He looked at her and then back at Anastor, who was rolling his eyes. "DId you steal those from the training fields?" he asked.

"Of course not," Anastor answered.

"Then where did you get them?" Aewen shot back. "I do not believe for a minute you could carve the wood that well or fit together the blade and the hilt that perfectly. And even if you could, you definitely would not have that much spare cloth lying around your cottage to pad the blade."

Eirienil nodded. "That is a real training sword from the training program and the only way you got it was by stealing it because it is brand new." She pulled on the shoulder of Legolas's tunic, trying to get him to look at her. "It is a really hot day. We should go swimming," she said, naming one of Legolas's favorite pastimes.

"That is a wonderful idea," Maidhien chimed in.

"It is not a brand new sword," Anastor answered, refusing to be deterred. "I have used it plenty of times to practice with. And I did not steal it. Did I Galithil?"

"No, you did not," Galithil said quietly. It was the only response Galithil had made to the idea of watching the warriors on the training fields so far.

"Then Galithil stole it for you," Eirienil said. "Shame on you, Galithil."

Galithil frowned, but said nothing.

Meanwhile, Anastor was tugging on Legolas's other sleeve for attention. "You asked your adar if you could practice, so you obviously want to. We brought these to show you. We will practice with you and let you use one of these if you want."

Legolas looked from Anastor to the trees. From the corner of his eye, he saw Anastor gesture for Noruil to show the sword again. Noruil held one up plain view. Legolas had no doubt that Eirienil was right and those swords were stolen from the training program. He was equally certain that Galithil had stolen them, and that truly shocked him, because he knew how much his cousin loved the responsibility of cleaning and mending the training weapons. He knew he should go tell Dolgailon that Anastor and Noruil had them, but he also knew he would never do it. And for a moment he allowed himself to believe he would not tell because of how much trouble Galithil would be in if he did. But in his heart, he knew that was not true. The truth was that he really wanted to take Anastor up on his offer to let him use that sword. But Legolas had not forgotten what Galithil said Aradunnon threatened would be the punishment for spying on the training fields--that they would not be allowed to join the training program until they came of age, rather than at the age of 46, the earliest the King's law allowed. Of course, Legolas had no doubt that they would not be joining it until they were fully of age anyway, now that it was solely up to his father to decide when they could join. That had been made perfectly clear by his father's refusal to even listen to any arguments regarding the possibility of him training sooner.

"I will go with you," he heard himself say.

Berior and Brethil whooped in excitement while Eirienil, Aewen and even Maidhien cast him dismayed looks.

"We are going swimming," Eirienil said. She took Aewen's hand and started off towards the river.

Maidhien hesitated a moment and then, with a long look over her shoulder, followed after them.

Legolas could not believe his eyes when Galithil walked in the direction of the river too.

"You are going with the ellyth?" Anastor exclaimed in his most mocking voice.

Galithil did not respond or even look back at them.

"Shut up, Anastor," Legolas said, balling his fist.

Anastor took a step back, one hand up. He said nothing.

Legolas ran after his cousin.

"You seriously will not come with us?" he whispered, stepping in front of him to keep him from walking away.

"I told you yesterday. I promised my adar I would not do it anymore. I am not breaking my word to him," Galithil said, standing a bit taller as if he expected an argument.

Legolas only nodded. "I understand. You will not tell on us, will you?"

"Of course not," Galithil said. "But you should not do it and you know it."

Legolas frowned. "I have as much right to be ready to fight for this realm as Adar did to fight for Menegroth."

Galithil looked at him a moment before looking away. "Be careful," he said.

"I will," Legolas promised. Then he turned back to Anastor. "Lead the way."

*~*~*

Adar/ada -- Father/dad
Naneth/nana -- Mother/mum
Elleth/ellyth -- Female elf/elves
Ellon/ellyn -- Male elf/elves